Interesting Nature

The other day we heard rumbles of thunder not far from us. We had not had a drop of rain, the sky was blue, the sun was shining. I looked around and there was a rainbow coming from a big thundercloud. Someone was getting some rain, those lucky people. We have had little bits of rain over us but others to the north and south have had couple to three inches and some tornados pop down from the clouds to thankfully go back up again. There were some impressive photos . Oh, and you can see the neighbors garden that will be mentioned later in this post.
This peace lily is popping up. I always forget it is there and then am delighted to see it bloom. The dark magenta color is just beautiful.
That lily is behind that big bunch of flowers that need trimmed down. In the foreground are some new lilies popping up. Did their under ground root system extend way over there or did the wind blow something over? I don’t know but its pretty cool.
There are so many things to love about coneflowers. They are compact but spread nicely with new bunches popping up here and there. They come in so many different colors. They attract butterflies. You can deadhead them and get more blooming flowers for the season. They are drought tolerant and they can be used medicinally. This is the first color that I bought and planted at least four years ago.
Then this color popped up.
I am now starting to have the pink ones.
And this is the first year for this lovely yellow. There are other new plants that haven’t bloomed yet so the surprises will keep coming. Here is a good, easy to read article from Better Homes and Gardens.
Many of the other plants and bushes are at the point where they need some trimming, it seems like it happens all at one time. Will have to get to that. Sadly the grass is brown and crunchy right now, it always gets this way. I try to drink in the green grass of May and June before it gets dried up. But it will come back again when the steady soft rain shows up.
Recently I put three chicken breasts in the crock pot with taco seasoning on top. Two or three packets depending on how strong you like your seasoning. Put it on high for four hours and shred. I then made this mango salsa and it contains, chopped mangos, corn, black beans, tomatoes, onion, squeezed half of lime, cilantro, cumen and salt and pepper. Put some chicken on a soft flour tortilla and top with a couple tablespoons of salsa, fold and eat. It is also good to scoop out with tortilla chips.
The neighbors always have a nice garden and we received tomatoes which we used right up and then four zucchinis. Shredded those and made chocolate bread and regular zucchini bread. What was left I froze for later. We really appreciate all their bounty that they send over and feel very lucky to have them.
Mama was keeping an eye on me. She has a cloud reflection above her head. It should have thought words in it.
We have used our pool a lot this year. I always love the blue water sparkling with the sunshine. The warm weather keeps it at a nice 90 to 92 degrees. Really warm weather then it makes it to 96, which is nearing hot tub temp. Not too refreshing then but when you get out and there is a little breeze it is almost cold for five minutes.
I am working on sorting photographs and it becomes overwhelming for me. Sometimes I am quite melancholy and weepy about it. I started sorting in piles and thought I could use a little guidance to maybe make it quicker. I looked in my Decluttering book and it didn’t have anything specific to photos. Then I recalled that I had this book and I did find a little guidance. This book talks about throwing out, it’s like it gives permission to throw items away. I become quite attached to things, but then I don’t really need pictures of the back of everyone’s head so we have to guess who they are or our future generations will wonder why this picture was kept. How about the ones that are underexposed and quite dark, it’s okay to let those go too. One other thing…..cards, birthday, christmas (especially) throw out the ones that don’t have any notes in them first. Then you can work your way backwards. I have quite a few of these too. Just to clarify, I am not a week by week person, never have been organized like that.

Here is something that I put together. That great pasta bottle I was going to sell in the recent garage sale and then I got the idea to put the shells in that were collected or bought (some many not be real). Our pasta doesn’t last long enough to warrant transferring it to the jar. I liked the effect. The larger ones would not fit. The colored bottles had not been out for awhile and are holding cuttings from around the house, perfect for that. There is a mini print of a new painting I did recently….Beach Heart and then the replica of the White Shoal Lighthouse. A fun way to change up house decorations.

What interesting decorating do you do?

I finished reading Team of Five: The Presidents Club in the Age of Trump I enjoyed this book
and I am now reading Stay. It is a free read with my Prime Membership. I am on the fifth chapter and I like it and look forward to picking it up again.

The movies I have watched:
Frida I liked but felt it just skimmed over everything. Not enough details for me. It was on Netflix.
Footloose 2011 version on Amazon Prime then I realized Blake Shelton sang the song so I found the official Video of it. Very enjoyable
The Cokeville Miracle – on Amazon Prime I almost stopped watching this one but made it through and did enjoy it.
Sweet Sunshine on Amazon Prime thumbs up on that one.
I started 7500 on Amazon Prime but I couldn’t finish it, it made me too nervous.
The Healer on Netflix feel good movie but thoughtful
Change in the Air on Netflix feel good movie but thoughtful

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